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Donald Trump mocked allies who suggested he should not engage in personal attacks, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night? He was taking shots at your president. And so was Michelle.”
He added: “You know, they always say, ‘Sir, please stick to policy, don’t get personal.’ And yet they’re getting personal all night long, these people. Do I still have to stick to policy?”
A new University of New Hampshire poll in Maine finds Kamala Harris has increased her lead over Donald Trump to 55% to 38%.
Perhaps more important, Harris leads in Maine’s second congressional district — which awards an electoral vote — by 49% to 44%.
Former Trump National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster writes in his new book, At War With Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House that Russian President Vladimir Putin tantalized Trump by preying on his “ego and insecurities,” The Guardian reports.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he will address the nation about the path forward for his campaign Friday in Arizona, amid advanced discussions with Donald Trump and his campaign team about dropping out of the race and endorsing the Republican nominee,” the Washington Post reports.
“Kennedy has continued to talk privately with former president Donald Trump since the Republican convention… Kennedy has expressed that he has talked to his immediate family about the prospect of an endorsement.”
ABC News: RFK Jr. plans to drop out of presidential race by end of week.
“Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has lamented her strained relationship with President Joe Biden after publicly questioning whether he should seek reelection,” the Washington Post reports.
“But she said she does not have any regrets over her part in nudging the president to step aside.”
“The Democratic gathering this week in Chicago is meant to celebrate Vice President Kamala Harris’s elevation to the national ticket. But it is also serving as something of a no-apologies tour for the former House speaker, who has been meme-d, lionized, vilified and all things in between for her role in getting Biden to decide not to seek reelection. Since arriving here on Sunday, Pelosi has attended over 20 events where she is often greeted like a hero.”
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally in a multi-candidate field, 46% to 43%.
Donald Trump told Hugh Hewitt it’s “pretty sad” for Democrats to focus on him at their convention this week.
Said Trump: “You know, I was mentioned at the Democrats’ little party that they have going on in Chicago, and it’s pretty sad.”
He added: “And they mentioned the economy about five times. They mentioned the border maybe none. They mentioned crime almost none. So I mean, they’re out of control. These people are out of control. And they’re ruining our nation. Our nation is going to hell.”
“Donald Trump’s campaign spending more than doubled last month as he dropped big money on ads attacking his new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris,” Politico reports.
“But he continues to significantly trail Harris in terms of campaign infrastructure that could help him turn his war chest into votes, according to new filings with the Federal Election Commission. Those reports underscore just how much Harris’ ascendance upended the race, including putting Trump behind once again in terms of campaign cash.”
“With the race reset for the final months, money could take on an ever greater importance as both sides scramble to turn out their respective bases and reach persuadable voters in battleground states.”
“Jerome Powell will usher in the next chapter in the Federal Reserve’s inflation battle on Friday, when he’s expected to set the table for an interest-rate cut while reassuring investors that policymakers can stave off a sharp economic slowdown,” Bloomberg reports.
Jonathan Martin: “It’s time to take the big dog off the porch and let him run. Bill Clinton should return to the campaign trail this fall and do what he does best: articulate to Americans why they should vote for Democrats.”
“It’s what Clinton plans to do in his remarks Wednesday night, same as he has at every Democratic convention for over three decades. And it’s how he could best help the party going into November.”
“Running what’s effectively a snap election with a ticket that, between them, has competed in a single, Covid-shaped national campaign, the party has an incentive to summon every possible asset to fend off Donald Trump.”
“As buoyant as so many at the convention are about their sudden change of fate after a summer from hell, it’s not hard to detect an underlying measure of concern about whether the moment can last. It’s not quite fatalism, but, as at the end of the late-night parties here, there’s a creeping sense that the alarm bell is going to go off in a couple of hours.”
“And few Democrats know that it’s not just joy that cometh in the morning than those who have been on the ballot.”
Matt Lewis: “After nine (or so) years of fear-driven politics, the hunger for something different has finally reached a fever pitch. Joy, it seems, is making a comeback.”
“I’m not sure who figured out that there was a latent, bottled-up hunger for a happy warrior — or that this ‘joy’ strategy, rather than finger-wagging moral outrage, was the best way to fight a would-be authoritarian. But it was a profound discovery.”
Rep. William Pascrell (D-NJ), who spent 28 years in the U.S. House of Representatives “as a scrappy, impassioned advocate for his constituents, a proud liberal, a beacon of integrity, a ferocious advocate of tax fairness, and a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump, died today after a month-long illness,” the New Jersey Globe reports.
He was 87 years old.
“The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported,” the AP reports.
“The revised total adds to evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the Federal Reserve’s plan to start cutting interest rates soon.”
New York Times: “The new data shows how July was one of the most unusual months in American political fund-raising history. Before Mr. Biden’s exit, Democrats were struggling to raise significant money. Then, after he revealed his decision in a single post on social media on a Sunday afternoon, Democrats began raising money hand over fist.”
Jonathan Chait: “Experienced in the moment, Barack Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago felt like the rousing culmination of a pep rally, peppered with funny insults of Donald Trump and familiar soaring patriotic oratory. But if you read it more closely, an argument emerges: against Trump and also against Obama’s own skeptics, including those within the Democratic Party who have turned away from his legacy.”
“Obama first electrified his party 20 years ago at the Democratic convention in Boston with a hopeful speech disdaining social division. To Obama’s skeptics, Trump’s rise refuted his optimistic belief in the nature of America and called for a different kind of politics to respond to it: summoning an angry populism to counter Trump’s angry pseudo-populism. The case Obama made to his party is that his political blueprint remains morally and strategically correct.”
Donald Trump questioned whether Democrats knew where Vice President Kamala Harris “came from,” reprising a tactic that he has previously used against other Democrats, including former president Barack Obama and women of color in Congress, the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “I wonder if they knew where she comes from, where she came from, what her ideology is.”
PBS Newshour: “The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the PM of Israel urging him not to cut a deal right now because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign.”
The New York Times have every song played by DJ Cassidy last night at the Democratic convention.
Earlier for members: The Best Delegate Roll Call in History
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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